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I hear so many people using the word to describe people these days that the word has almost lost the impact that it once had. Who are the ACTUAL legends of angling?


Some that spring immediately to mind are: Ivan Marks, Kevin Ashurst, Alan Scotthorne, Bob Nudd, Denis White and John Dean are all legends from various era’s of match fishing. But one man who really has changed the face of match fishing and fishing in general and is often overlooked is Peter Drennan.

All of the Match and Pole team recently had a very enjoyable trip to Drennan HQ to spend a day with the main man himself. It was the first time I have had the pleasure to meet Peter and I left our meeting in absolute awe of the man. His sheer passion for the sport, his unbelievable engineering knowledge, his business brain and the fact that he listens and takes on board every comment that you make about a product made me understand just why Drennan are so successful.

Peter has also made several huge decisions that have kept Drennan as top dogs. 15 years ago he spotted that Chinese manufacturing might not be the way forward, labour was increasing and costs were spiralling. He realised that there must be another location available and promptly built several factories on an island normally associated with luxurious holidays. It was a gamble that paid off as now, 15 years on his new location is cheaper than China and produces much higher quality products! A fantastic move and just another great decision!

His passion for the England team is also incredible and he openly admits that he doesn’t make any money from sponsoring them but he just wants to help them out and see them win! He is incredibly honest which is something I truly admire from someone so successful, and to top it all off he was a great laugh too!

So when you look back at legends of our sport, Peter Drennan has to be up there at the top of the list thanks to his contribution to fishing. I doubt there is an angler in England that doesn’t at least own one Drennan product and if your anything like me you will have lots!

We saw lots of great new products on our Drennan visit, all of which are already in the tackle shops so get out there and check them out as you wont be disappointed… in particular a special new line.

Joe Carass